Eric Schmidt, who led Google’s transformation into a tech giant, has left the company

Eric Schmidt, who drove Google’s transformation from Silicon Valley start-up to global titanium, is no longer an advisor to the search giant and its parent alphabet. This is another milestone in the recent personnel upheavals when the old guard of the company said goodbye.

Schmidt, who was appointed CEO of Google in 2001, gave up his position as technical advisor in February, a person familiar with the situation. His exit ends a 19-year tenure at Google. It comes three years after Schmidt said he resigned as CEO and would no longer take on an operational role.

Representatives of Schmidt and Google declined to comment.

Schmidt’s departure marks another stage in the development of Google. Schmidt’s participation in government projects raised questions about conflicts of interest. At the end of last year, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who founded Google in 1998 as Stanford University students, given leadership from Alphabet and its extensive activities to Sundar Pichai, who has been in the core business of search since 2015. David Drummond, the company’s 14-year-old chief of law, retired in January after reviewing previous relationships.

When the original management left, employees and industry observers questioned whether the world’s largest search engine with more than 120,000 employees worldwide could maintain its famous freewheel culture. In the past three years, tensions between management and employees about dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct directed against top executives, a censored search engine project in China, and local initiatives have increased artificial intelligence for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Schmidt’s role at Google had gradually diminished following his resignation as CEO in 2011. Nevertheless, his ties to the company triggered a setback as Schmidt reinforced his role Work on U.S. military initiatives. He chairs the Defense Innovation Board, an advisory group to bring new technologies to the Pentagon, including advances in machine learning. He also chairs the National Security Commission for Artificial Intelligence, which advises Congress on AI on defense. Critics fear, however, that Schmidt could be wrong promote Google’s financial interests when it comes to his work with the military.

Earlier this week, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said Schmidt would chair a commission to update the state’s technological infrastructure and practices during and after the upgrade the coronavirus pandemic. The group will focus on topics such as telehealth, internet broadband and distance learning, said Schmidt. Appointment also cause for concern on the impact of big tech in the public sector, especially given Google’s data protection scandals in the past.

The 65-year-old Schmidt joined Google after working as CEO of the software manufacturer Novell. He was regarded as “adult supervision” for the young founders of the company. Schmidt was introduced to Page and Brin by two of Google’s best-known supporters, venture capitalists John Doerr from Kleiner Perkins and Mike Moritz from Sequoia Capital.

During Schmidt’s tenure, the company expanded beyond its roots as a search engine to target other technologies, including Mobile phones and online video. It also adopted a corporate structure that reflected growing financial success. Schmidt helped bring the company public in 2004, a debut on the stock market that made him a billionaire. (He still holds around $ 5.3 billion in company shares.)

Schmidt remained Google’s CEO for a decade before taking on his role as Executive Chairman and Page taking the top position. In 2015, the company introduced bomb restructuring and founded a parent company for Google called Alphabet. Schmidt also became CEO of the new company.

In 2017, Schmidt switched to the new position of technical consultant, a task that the company has never clearly described. Still, he had two administrative assistants at Google headquarters. The staff has been hired since Schmidt’s departure, said the person familiar with the situation.

Schmidt’s exit means that he is officially, if symbolically, removed from Alphabet’s payroll. In the advisory role, he earned $ 1 a year.

“Maybe you shouldn’t even do it at all.”

During and after his tenure as CEO, Schmidt gained a reputation for being controversial. In 2005, Google blacklisted CNET reporters after the website published a story about Google’s huge amount of user data. The story contained personal information about the then CEO, Schmidt, obtained through Google searches, including his net worth and details of how he was a Burning Man participant and amateur pilot.

Schmidt also checked his views on user data and data protection. When asked in 2009 whether people like a “trusted friend” should share information with Google, he has answered“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, you might not want to do it at all.”

Schmidt has recently received feedback for comments on big tech and the pandemic. In a virtual event with the New York Economic Club in April, Schmidt criticized the US response to the COVID-19 crisis and said the government was slow to organize. He then highlighted Silicon Valley’s role in helping people get and communicate information during the crisis, saying that Americans should be “grateful” that technology companies were able to fund and help people .

“The benefits of these companies, which we like to slander, in terms of communication skills, dealing with health and the ability to receive information are profound,” he said during the discussion. “Think about how your life in America would look like without Amazon.”